San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-03-04

/ the villainous foreigner deserted her
/ deserted the fair young English girl
who had resigned wealth, rank and sta
/ ton. in order TO share his miserable lott
! And she-in due course she died''-the
baronet's voice had sunk so low now as
/ TO be almost inaudible even to Dicks
straining ear-"died in poverty
stricken clearinghouse, surrounded by
the mere refuse of society, lacking, per-
chance, the wherewithal to sustain life.
i know not even where she lies, he
continued hoarsely; Sin all probability
no stone records her name or age, no
lowly cross even marks her resting
place. so wellp l said in my heart,
and deemed the chapter closed for ever
and for aye. But, il is not given NOR
tails to control Destiny, nor thus to con-
clude at will debit and credit account
with Fate. l was henceforth spared,
tits true, the constantly recurring an
noyance OF fresh overtures from my un-
grateful child, but the remembrance Of
her blighted life, her early death, her
misery, and, above all, of the infant she
had left behind to the mercy Of a cold
and callous world, refused to slumberl
became prey to remembrances the
most narrowing, and after many years
(albeit my heart remained long hard
and insensible under the memory Of
my wrongs), victim to remorse-that
most dread despoiler Of the human
peace"
The old mans voice was harsh and
grating, he stirred uneasily in his cush-
Toned elbow-chair; whilst, glancing at
him askance, Dick reflected on the in
justice men do one another by Judging
Of facts from appearances. Who, at
this moment, casually regarding Sir
Jasper, would have deemed it possible
drop the mask awhile, tear aside the
veil of cold reserve wherewith | have
thus long decorously covered up my
wounds, and confide to you the miser-
able secret which, throughout long
years, has robbed my days of happiness,
my nights peace, tranquility, and that
repOse which is, after all, the only So
lace declining years may know"
Dick was more amazed by this adj
dress than he cared to betray. Sir JAS
per had always appeared to him callous
and impenetrable as the sphinx. less
prone to indulge in sentiment, perhaps,
than any other human being of his ac-
quaintance. To hear him, therefore,
give expression to depth of unavail-
ing regret, savoring strangely of re-
morse, struck the young man as pitia-
BILE and incongruous, betraying, as it
did, much of the unrecognized anguish
the lonely baronet must have endured
unsupported throughout long years.
1t is needless to add that Dick hast
ened to assure his patron of the ready
sympathy any personal trouble could
not fail to awaken in his own heart,
and begged Sir Jasper to confide freely
to his ear every detail of the sorrow to
which he had so pathetically alluded.
IF l can aid or serve you, sir" he con-
cluded earnestly; II trust protestations
of eagerness in your cause are unneces-
sary on the part of one so sincerely at
tached and deeply indebted to you as
must ever remain"
AYE, there's the rub, lad; there's the
rubl'' murmured the baronet vaguely.
"Youth is seldom altogether disinter-
ested, even though less mercenary, per-
haps, than age. But have given you
every reason, Dick, toto cherish al
most limitless expectations-as the
phrase goes-upon the death of one who
has ever sought to benefit you in life.
What if the revelations and the service
/ am about to ask of you should appear
calculated toto injure your prospects
and damp your hopes? What if"
''Say no more, sir, begl" Dick inter-
rupted warmly. "Have I, indeed, CIV
en- you cause to think me the meanest
of men, the most ungrateful and unde-
serving of my sexp Can you"
"Ah, l wrOnged you, boy-I wronged
you'll" returned the baronet, hastily;
land ask your pardon in that, even
mOmentarily, was unjust to you in
thought. Enough of preamble, hOwev-
er. Listen to the story of my youth,
the sorrows of my manhood, the-the
aripnn md 6npliaitu of MI old anafO
His voice, with the last words. sank
to a mere whisper, then there was a
long, long pause. Dick well-nigh stilled
his breathing, straining his ears till the
tension of his nerves became almost
painful in his anxiety to catch the
faintest murmur that might escape the
others lips.
"Dick, you may or may not have
heard that / lived gay life when a
young man; your father and l were at
college together, and he has, perhaps,
told YOU as much of my collegiate ca
reer as it was advisable you should
hear. No matter. Eventually went
abroad to improve my mind by foreign
travel, to rub off something of insular
prejudice, to see life-enlarge my ideas,
in short, with any and every object in
view, saving the one that ultimately
attained. Ifell in love, Dick, and, as a
natural sequence, took to myself a
wife. She was Saxon by birth, French
by parentage, and Marguerite was her
name. Her mother waS-don't start,
Dick-a third-rate actress, and it was
behind the foot-lights that l first saw
my Marguerite. She was beautiful as
an angel-as an angel, good and pure.
saw no sign nor symptoms of lurking
evil, no disposition towards wrongdo-
ing, no trace of hereditary faint yet her
mother was a common actress, Dick.
Bear this salient point in mind. Well,
my bride was lent to me but one brief
year, then, as her babe saw light, she
diedl"
There was brief pause. The baro-
net was not unnaturally overcome by
the narrowing "reminiscences thus sud-
denly disinteTred, and Dick too deeply
touched-too painfully interested-tO
venture just then upon any trite con-
solatory remark.
Words of his however well-inten-
toned or well-chosen, could but seem
commonplace and meaningless, it ap-
peared to him, by contrast with the in
describable pathos of the old mans
brief laconic sentences, and low sepul-
chral tones.
After awhile he continued abruptly.
81 idolized the child-the blossom
which burst into life as the parent rose
faded and fell christened her"-here
the heart beneath that rugged breast
could ever have thrilled with pity,
throbbed with anguish, fluttered 'twixt
the thrOes of alternating hopes and
fears? Still less have suspected that